Miscellaneous Musings on Presidential Funerals

Although I didn't plan to, I ended up seeing a fair amount of TV coverage of President Ford's funeral. I guess it's hard to miss, since it seemed to go on for weeks. Same thing happened when Mr. Reagan left this world a few years ago. At that time I recall thinking the whole event was excessive.

It got me thinking...who was the most recent president to die (other than the disgraced Mr. Nixon) and what was his funeral like? It's hard to believe, but if my research is correct, it was Lyndon Johnson in 1973. The picture above is from his funeral. Here's a bit of the obituary from the New York Times:

SAN ANTONIO, Tex., Jan. 22--Lyndon Baines Johnson, 36th President of the United States, died today of an apparent heart attack suffered at his ranch in Johnson City, Tex.

The 64-year-old Mr. Johnson, whose history of heart illness began in 1955, was pronounced dead on arrival at 4:33 P.M. central time at San Antonio International Airport, where he had been flown in a family plane on the way to Brooke Army Medical Center here.

A spokesman at Austin said that Mr. Johnson's funeral would probably be held Thursday at the National City Christian Church in Washington. He said the body would lie in state at the Johnson Library in Austin from noon tomorrow until 8 A.M. Wednesday, with an honor guard, and then would be taken to Washington, where it will lie in state at the Capitol rotunda until the funeral. Mr. Johnson will be buried at the L.B.J. Ranch.

Death came to the nation's only surviving former President as the nation observed a period of mourning proclaimed less than a month ago for former President Harry S. Truman.

I thought the last sentence rather interesting, no? And I was very surprised that LBJ was ony 64 when he died - in fact, he looked like he was 104.

OK, so I guess the funerals are as they should be - with all the pomp and circumstance we've come to expect in the services for these last two presidents.

So, having settled that critical conundrum, can you imagine anything stranger than being a former president during these events? When you pay your respects at the Capitol, you know that you too will be lying in state there. You must wonder about your own funeral, although since these memorials are planned years in advance, this must be an easy transition to make. You can just imagine Jimmy Carter, George HW Bush and Bill Clinton eyeing each other and thinking who would be next. Every cough or stumble might signal the upcoming honoree.

And what about the Clintons, especially if Hillary ever becomes president herself? Chelsea must quake in her boots thinking that she potentially could have to endure going through two of these events, all by herself.

Oh well, let's hope it's a long time until the next one. (Another Googled fact is that, yes, Lady Bird Johnson is still living, at the age of 95 years old.)

Photo credit: Marion S. Trikosko; link

He Was Jerry Ford; and You're Not

You've all heard by now that Gerald Ford died last night. I was in college when he succeeded Tricky Dick as President. At the time, nearly all young Americans were fixated with scorn and anger at Nixon and we had spent at least a year (probably more) awaiting his leave-taking from the White House. When it finally happened, the day before my 20th birthday, I accepted it as a personal gift as I left my teens behind.

But I also recall that I was just a little disappointed with Jerry Ford and his blandness. With his elevation to the presidency, there was a total transformation of the White House. It became a much more approachable and more modern place. There were normal teenagers in his family and this President actually cooked his own breakfast. It seemed as if one of our suburban neighbors had been named president.

And then, of course, came Saturday Night Live and Chevy Chase's hilarious imitations of Mr. Ford. I remember watching this brand new show in a pot-smoking haze and although it may be hard to believe, this show was revolutionary for depicting a president as a bumbling fool. And I have to say, even though I have always been a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat, his wife Betty has always been a particular favorite of mine. She always seemed a lot more left-leaning and I suspected had a great influence on him. I heard tonight that we can thank JerryFord for putting Justice Stevens on the Supreme Court. Certainly wouldn't hear of that kind of moderation these days.

So, rest in peace, Mr. Ford. It is a successful person, never mind President, who in death is described as decent, honorable, a man of integrity, capable, humble, kind, sincere and wise. His wife and children can be very proud.

UPDATE: This morning, I woke up to news reports that President Ford told Bob Woodward that he would not have gone to war in Iraq, back in 2004! This on top of Nancy Reagan's mini-swipe at the Chimp for not supporting stem cell research (in her remarks noting the passing of Jerry Ford). The cheese really does stand alone these days, doesn't he? Damn.